


Irrelevance

by orphan_account



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-18 04:28:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3556037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Pynch first kiss, because there are a million ways this could go down and I need to explore all of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Irrelevance

He rapped his knuckles on the door to the apartment. Adam took an annoyingly long time to answer, and when he did, his face was hidden in shadows.

Ronan grabbed Adam's chin and tilted it up to the light. "What the hell happened to you?" he growled.

Adam snorted. "Who do you think?"

"Your father?"

"It's nothing," Adam said. He jerked his face out of Ronan's grip, reaching to shut the door behind him. He slid the bolt in place quickly, as if he was hoping Ronan wouldn't notice it.

"I'm going to-" Ronan began, but Adam held up a weary hand. "Please don't," he said. "I know you're trying to help, but it will just make it worse."

Ronan stared at him for a moment. "Is this about me punching your dad back at the trailer? Because - I'm sorry if it caused this. I was just..." he trailed off. He had no idea what he wanted to say. He knew exactly how he _felt_ , but that was not a thing for sharing. Gansey had almost died that day. And then Ronan had driven Adam back to his pathetic double-wide, asked him not to get out - he wanted to beg him to come stay at Monmouth, even just for one night, but begging was not a thing that Ronan Lynch would ever dream of doing. This thing with Adam walked such a fine line, and an even finer one back then, when Ronan hadn't wanted to admit even to himself that there _was_ a line. And he had almost driven away. Robert Parrish had been worse than usual that night, he knew. Adam could have been dead because Ronan was too afraid to help him out.

"I'm sorry," Ronan began again. "I know you didn't want me to do it, but I _had to_." He looked into Adam's eyes, laser focus, willing him to understand. It seemed to only accomplish discomfiting the boy even more, though. Finally, Adam nodded.

"It was a brave thing of you to do," he conceded, "getting between him and the damage he wants to inflict when he's in a mood."

"Seems to me like he was always in a mood," Ronan said, breathing a small sigh of relief. He was forgiven. They would talk about this later. They definitely would, Ronan wasn't letting it to - but now was not the time. He was sick of fighting with Adam. He was sick of just being around Adam. Every little thought he couldn't communicate bubbled its way to the surface of his mind, nearly slipping out his lips, and every time he had to squeeze his eyes shut and center himself, tell himself to get a grip.

"Well," Adam said, and then, "so how is Gansey? He piss you off or something? Or you just miss my company?" He said it wryly, but it seemed suggestive to Ronan. It was hard to tell sometimes, the bits of Adam that were different because of Cabeswater, and the bits of Adam that were just different around Ronan now. It was exhausting.

"Miss your company, Parrish? Every waking moment." 

Adam laughed. He shifted awkwardly between feet. "Here," he said, sitting down on the edge of his bed and patting the spot beside him, motioning for Ronan to join him. Ronan removed his shoes, because they were quite muddy, and Adam's apartment was pitiful enough as it was without being filthy as well. He joined Adam on the bed.

"In answer to your first question, Parrish," Ronan said, lying back with his hands folded under his head, "Gansey wasn't even around to be able to piss me off. He was off with Sargent somewhere."

"Oh?" Adam asked, nodding slighly. Ronan analyzed his face, trying to determine if there was any hurt there. Well, fuck, he might as well ask. There was no harm in asking. He didn't think.

"You're not still into her, are you?" he asked, averting his eyes, trying to keep the tone of his voice flat.

"Blue? Um..." Adam pursed his lips and stretched his arms, hands flexed. "Trying to date her was, like, a mistake. It's not really...it's not really a thing forme anymore. It's not really relevant."

"Why is it not relevant?" Ronan pushed. He kept moving his head, trying to meet Adam's gaze, but Adam kept playing hard to get.

"It's just not," Adam said. Then, absurdly, he laughed. "You know what?" he said. "Fuck this." Ronan wasn't sure if Adam was speaking to Ronan or to himself, but this trail of thought was abruptly cut off as he felt Adam's hand on the back of his neck, pulling him closer. He had a rather wild look in his eyes. It was very unusual for Adam, who mormally served as the sedative of a group. But this look was at look that reflected Ronan's own when he thought that Adam wasn't looking.

Adam put his lips on Ronan's, rather harshly, trying to make a point: _he knew_. Ronan was shocked into stillness for a few seconds before he was actually able to return the gesture. He tried to push the confusion out of his mind so that he could just enjoy it. _What was this?_ Adam ran his tongue over Ronan's lips, asking for entrance. _A confession?_ Adam tugged lightly at Ronan's skin with his teeth. _An experiment?_ Adam braced his hands on the side of Ronan's face. _A pity kiss?_ The not knowing was distracting, and that pissed Ronan off. Whether this was the only kiss he was going to get from Adam, or the first of a thousand, he wanted to enjoy it, not analyze it. He pulled away for a second and opened his mouth to speak, but Adam got there first:

"See?" he said with a smile, "not relevant."


End file.
